Tamra WardPresident and CEO
Colorado Concern

Tamra Ward is the President and CEO of Colorado Concern, a business advocacy association of more than 100 chief executives from across the state.

Before joining Colorado Concern, Tamra was the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce where she was responsible for the development and execution of a local, state and federal government relations and political strategy that met the needs of the organization’s 3,000 member businesses, as well as executing an organization-wide internal and external communications plan that benefitted the Chamber and all its affiliates. Ward also is known for her work as the business community lead on statewide ballot measures. Since 2005 she has led efforts to raise $18.8 million for three successful campaigns to support or defeat measures viewed as helpful or harmful to Colorado’s economic climate. While at the Chamber Ward also provided oversight and management of the Colorado Competitive Council (C3), a separately funded statewide business advocacy affiliate created by the organization in 2006.

A 1990 graduate of Baylor University with a degree in Journalism and Slavic Studies, Tamra’s career began on Capitol Hill, where she served as Assistant Press Secretary for Senator Alan Simpson, Press Secretary for Representative Craig Thomas, and Deputy Chief of Staff following Thomas’ election to the Senate in 1994. Prior to moving to Denver, the Wyoming native served as the Vice President of Marketing and Development for Columbia Hospital for Women, a private, not-for-profit hospital in Washington, D.C.

Building on a personal interest in serving Colorado, Tamra has been involved with the Daniels Career Coaching Program, the Junior League of Denver, and served on the Board of Directors of Hope Communities, Inc, an affordable housing provide in Northeast Denver. She is a graduate of the Chamber’s Leadership Denver Program, and was named by the Denver Business Journal as one of Denver’s “40 Under 40” – an annual list of Denver’s up and coming business leaders. Tamra also represented the First Congressional District (Denver) on the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education. Ward is the immediate past chair of the Porter Adventist Hospital Foundation, is a member of the Boards of Directors of History Colorado Board of Directors, Mile High United Way, ARC Thrift Stores and Komen Colorado. Tamra was named a 2006 ”Women of Distinction” by the Mile High Chapter of the Girl Scouts, and in 2014 was honored as one of the state’s 25 Most Powerful Women by the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce.